Stacking vocals in a mix

S

Silk

New member
I own a 16 track studio ( 2 Adats). I generally use about 12 tracks to record the instruments and the last four tracks for vocals. I listen to alot of R&B music and notice that they stack the hell out of the background vocals to create a choir like harmony. Is there any way I can achieve this with the remaining four tracks. To give you more info about what equipment I am using, I also own a Ensoniq DP/4+ effects proc., a Quadraverb 2 effects proc., and a EMU E5000 sampler turbo model. I know with all this equipment there's got to be a way to create stacked vocals. What I imagine is to record a three part harmony on 3 tracks..sample the vocal harmony and record it back to track 4. Keep repeating this until track space is used up. What do you think? Do you have any other suggestions??

D. Talley
 
1. Use a slapback on the vocals around 35Ms. Pan original to one side and slap to another

2. Use 2 delays one-13Ms, another 29Ms. Pan original center and the other 2 to the sides.

3.Use pitch altering on added tracks. - but very subtle.

4. Record all vocals on one track then again on another track but have singers switch parts for every track. Pan

5.Use chorus. Pan original 2 takes to left right (like 10:00-2:00). Send via aux to a stereo effect unit using chorus. The returns, send back to seperate tracks, Pan the effected tracks hard left-right (if you dont have a mixer send it to the empty tracks.

6. Try same thing, using a short delay. Send to aux etc...

I don't think it's a bad idea to sample and then dump to a clean track but it is important to leave at least on one track, the original. When you sample you will be losing a bit of the quality going from one to another and back again..So use the original as your base sound.

Why also record 3 different tracks of single voices?.
7. If you have a good mic that is omni or bidirectional, move the singers around the mic for a good blend, then change blend and record on second track, then again on the third. If needed, EQ them a bit differently

[Edited by Shailat on 10-10-2000 at 05:08]
 
Personally, I love the sound of multiple recorded vocal tracks and would go the "low effect" route. I realize the effect route is more practical and quicker but...

I would record the background vocal tracks first on two tracks, then bounce to 3 and 4 adding another vocal track. Keep bouncing to add more tracks. I do the doubled parts first because it's easier to hear when you're off.
This is tricky as far as levels are concerned, but if you started out on a four-track, you'll still remember how to do this efficiently.

Good luck- let us know what you do...
 
What I´ve done a few times is to record a 3 part harmony on separate tracks, then transfer them to a 4th track.
The I do it all over again(record 3 new vocal parts transferred to a 4th).
After that you pan the two stacked tracks to nicely frame your lead vocals.
Also, try stepping back a bit from the mic when recording your harmony parts so they don´t have as much presence as the lead vocals.

as said before, let us know what happens

giggsy
 
Along with what giggsy said, you will need more than the 4 tracks you mentioned. My gues would be that some of the tracks being used are fore little bits and fills. I would recommend recording all the vocals and bouncing down before putting in the little frilly stuff. This will enable you to get some good vocal tracks and not have to do a lot of bouncing. Hope this helps.
 
I appreciate all the comments. I had to send my ADAT in for repairs but, soon as it comes back, I will try some of the suggestions mentioned above. Thanks.

(Smooth as.....)
Silk
 
Silk said:
I appreciate all the comments. I had to send my ADAT in for repairs but, soon as it comes back, I will try some of the suggestions mentioned above. Thanks.

(Smooth as.....)
Silk
Click to expand...

Also, if you want that really slick/smooth vocal sound, compress the BG's at about 14 to 1 (This is a trick that Mutt Lange uses on the background vocals for acts he produces like Shania Twain and Def Leppard.)

Tim
 
giggsy said:
Hmmm, 14:1 compression sounds interesting.
Guess I´ll have to try that...

giggsy
Click to expand...

It just makes them really thick-almost like 1 voice, but you'll have to play around with the releas time to get it to sound the way that you want.
I would not suggest recording tham with this much compression-just when you do the final mix-comp the heck out of them-In a way, it's really limiting them, because 14 Decibels is a heck of a peak for 1 decibel of output!

Tim
 
Tim,
I certainly see in theory what you´re getting at.
This kind of harmony is sort of what I´m looking for in my next project so I´ll give it a go...

cheers,
giggsy
 
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